Introduction:

Have you ever wondered how high a hill is? In this activity you will investigate how early geologists made accurate estimates of the height of mountains. You will also learn the skill of ‘leveling’ to determine slope.

In the background for this lesson, we learned how far one has to travel to measure the circumference of the base (8.8 km) of the monolith Uluru. We also learned the percent of the steepness of the sides. (Compare that to a 7% grade a highway travels over a mountain pass!) The height of Uluru is approximate to that of the Eiffel Tower.

How do scientists and mathematicians figure out the height of a mountain? Experiment with the ancient art of ‘leveling’ to figure the height of a slope.

Vocabulary:

• kilomometres
• Geological
• monolith
• summit
• traverse
• circumference

Materials:

• quart size (946 ml) glass jar with lid, half full of water
• wide rubber band
• pointed stick about 2 feet (61 cm) long
• journal, pencil, tape measure

Preparation:

• Locate a suitable slope to measure with a partner.
• Make sure you understand how to measure distance using a proper unit of measure
• Measure the distance between your eyes and the ground as you will need this number to compute the slope’s height.

Procedure:

• Place the jar of water on a level table or level ground. When the water is still, place the rubber band around the exact level of the water.
• Stand at the bottom of the slope you wish to measure. Hold the jar directly in front of your eyes and look straight across the water. (Make sure the water level and rubber band are in the same place)
• As you look through the water level, find a place on the slope and ask your friend to place the stick there as a mark.
• Record ‘1’ in your journal.
• Climb the slope and stand where the stick is touching the ground. Place your feet on either side of the spot, look through the jar until the water is level for the next place on the slope to mark. Your friend should move to the new spot and mark it. Record ‘2’ in your journal.
• Repeat the previous step until you are at the top of the hill or as far as you wish to measure.
• Add all of your marks and record the sum in your notebook.
• Use the tape measure to find the distance between your eyes and the ground. Multiply the number of marks you recorded by the distance between your eyes and the ground. The answer is the height of the slope you measured.

Analyze and Conclude:

• Were you able to work cooperatively with a partner to measure the height of a slope? Were the measurements accurate?
• Were the recordings in your journal descriptive? Did they describe the steps needed to find the height of a slope?
• Investigate modern methods of measuring mountain height. How do they contrast and compare to ‘leveling’? Which is more accurate? Why is one method preferable to another?
• Suggest alternative methods to measuring a slope. Conduct an experiment to see if the new method is accurate.

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